C2M Senior News Editor Jordan J. Frasier

A Mason doctoral candidate looked at the impact drinking and spare time has on a college student’s academic performance -- finding alcohol consumption to be the most significant predictor of grade point average. USA Today has more.

Metro faces a $72 million budget short-fall and board members face a list of potential service changes to close the gap. The changes could mean longer waits between trains and the loss of some bus routes. The Washington Post has more.

A missing person flyer featuring Mason senior Bethany Anne Decker is seen on a bulletin board in Student Union Building II on March 24, 2011. Decker was last seen by a boyfriend on Jan. 29. (Photo by Jordan J. Frasier)

Vice President Biden announced new initiatives to boost the nation’s graduation rate when he spoke Tuesday at the first annual Grad Nation Summit. The announcement is part of President Obama’s goal to increase the nation’s graduation rate by 50 percent by 2020.

Responding to community input, developers have updated their plans for the renovation of the University Mall shopping area, which is located across the street from Mason’s Fairfax Campus. Read more from Burke Patch and see the plans here.

Beginning at 10 p.m. tonight and continuing through Monday night, Metro riders will experience delays on the Orange, Blue and Red lines. Metro’s maintenance work will close the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations and mean track sharing on parts of the Red line. For details on how this weekend’s closures will impact your weekend commute, visit Metro’s website.

The view during part of the bus trip Mason junior Matt Wilchek took from The American University Cairo to the Cairo airport to catch a U.S. State Department charter flight out of the country. Wilchek was in Egypt on a study abroad program. (Photo courtesy of Matt Wilchek)

The former part-time Mason Italian-language professor arrested in October for possession of child pornography was back in court yesterday where the judge set an end of the month deadline to strike a plea deal.

Diego Fasolini, 42, and the attorneys involved have worked to settle the case without going to trial. The contention to that deal being made is discussion about property being returned to Fasolini.